Gray, Yellow and Stretching Your Stash

 Just a quick post before we leave for church - another soccer layout and another unusual (for me) color scheme.  This layout is about a weekend trip my son's high school team took to Cincinnati.  I pulled inspiration from the SC kit papers and the hotel key he brought back for the color scheme - gray, yellow and red. 

 

I used some of my favorite stash stretching tricks on this layout and want to share them.

• Use your punches and die cutting machines to make embellishments.  I cut the shipping tag with my cricut and used my Creative Memories embossed star punch with coredinations cardstock and sandpaper to create custom embellishments. 

• Use packaging materials - this enjoy label came on an embellishment package in an old SC kit.  It was perfect here.

• Combine old and new embellishments.  The yellow thickers are old Dear Lizzy Thickers I found at TJ Maxx for $1 but they coordinate perfectly with these brand new MME enamel dots.

• Layer odds and ends left over in embellishments packages.  This layout uses lots of old soccer stickers in combination with bits and pieces from past SC kits.  With the yellow, grey and red color scheme they work perfectly.  That's why I almost never thrown anything away.

•  Use memorabilia - the Marriott key worked great here.

I haen't done any scrapping in days,b ut am hopping to get some time in today.  Hope you have a great Sunday!

Really - Orange and Blue?

A couple of days ago I said I was going to try and play with different color schemes with some of the soccer layout I did.  This one sure fits- I used orange and blue.  My kids love orange and I have collected a fair amount of orange paper over the years because they like it, but I never really use it.

When I started this layout, I just had the blue, orange and white paper on my table.  My daughter told me it was hideous and way too bright.  (You can always count on your kids to be honest.)  I added the charcoal cardstock and it did seem a bit more balanced.

Here is the layout (inspired by Creative Scrappers Sketch 229).  I love those charcoal sotheby thickers.

Hope you have a great Friday.

Sometimes Its Not Easy

I started this layout on Monday - and it just didn't look right.  I didn't know why, but I wasn't happy with it.  So I left it on my table and every time I walked by I moved something, added something or took something away.  Once in a while I sat down and played with it for a few minutes.  Finally I was happy (enough) with it.

 There's a reminder in that process.  Things aren't perfect and sometimes you need to let go of the small stuff.  It's not a work of art, but it's a fun layout and captures the day.

Have a great Thursday.

Black and White

Soccer is a huge part of my sons' lives.  If you follow my blog, you know that I put together an unbelievable number of soccer layouts. I know you get tired of looking at them, and you can be sure that I get tired of putting them together.  I feel like they all start to look alike.

So in Nicholas's senior album, I am really trying to do some different things with those soccer layouts.  It might be different color combinations, different techniques, different embellishments or a different focus.  This layout about the scrimmages (especially about the one against the team from the public high school in our community) uses an obvious difference.  I printed the pictures in black and white.  (The layout was inspired by the monthly sketch challenge at My Scraps and More.)

This black and white pictures give the layout a different feel from other soccer layouts in Nicholas's album.  And the combination of black and white pictures with bright colored papers creates a fresh look.  The chevron flair is another fun touch.

But one of my favorite parts of the layout is the title block.

My husband cut the large wood circle from veneer we bought at a wood working store.  The small wood circles came from the same shopping trip.  And I love these new Amy Tangerine corrugated letters.  The font design inspred the letter placement that creates a sense of movement.

Have a great Wednesday!

Misting Is a Little Scary

When I see them online, I love layouts where people have used the different spray ink products to create a background, to spatter, to create drips . . . . .I've acquired a dozen or so bottles, but I'm a chicken.  What if I don't like how it turns out. 

Yesterday I started a new album for my son's freshman year in high school.  And I decided I was going to bite the bullet and use some of that product sitting in a drawer in my scrap room.  Here's what I came up with.

It was surprisingly simple to put together and created a great look.  I started with a piece of white woodgrain cardstock and added a couple of pages I tore from an old book I bought at a garage sale (also a first for me).  Then I cut a mask using my cricut and a file of his school logo (which the school provided).  I used the mask and some Mr. Huey's to add the school name to the bottom of the cardstock, overlapping the book pages.  I cut the word "freshman" with my cricut and pasted that over the school logo.  After that it was really quick - I added a vellum scrap, a school picture and a few embellishments. 

It looks like nothing else I've done and provides a great start to the album. And I feel like I've really accomplished something.

So try something new on your pages today.  It will make a great Tuesday!

The Last First Day

One of my favorite days every fall is the first day of school.  The kids are always excited about seeing their friends, the new school supplies, and meeting their teacher. It's great to think that each year brings a fresh start.  But this year the first day of school was bittersweet.  Nicholas is a senior, so it was his last "first day."  (and that is seems impossible since I still remember crying on his first "first day" when he couldn't wait to say good-bye and get in the classroom.

This layout is for his senior album

The bright colors capture the optimism that comes with the first day of school.  I cut the pennants across the bottom of the page with the Creative Memories Border Maker at a Croptoberfest crop on Saturday.  And I got to use some of my favorite products from the new Studio Calico kits - the wide washi and enamel dots.

And I got to play with layering in this cluster of memorabilia and embellishments - the school logo is from the front of a thank you note from Nicholas about the opportunities at his school.  (I saved the note itself for another layout.)

I submitted this layout for last week's Wednesday Word challenge at My Scraps and More - they were looking for layouts that featured the days of the week, and I satisfied the challenge with both the shipping tag and the great Amy Tangerine paper.

Today is Columbus Day.  The kids have school but I don't have to go to work.  I have nothing planned but scrapping and napping.  It sounds like a perfect day after the crazy fall we've had so far.  Hope you have a great Monday too!

Finally A Winner

 I am a little behind and haven't named a winner to my birthday giveaway.  Sorry for the delay, but it's been a crazy week with the kids.  We had Senior Night, Homecoming (which was a 4 day event at my son's school, Girl Scouts, work, and Volleyball to name a few of the things that kept me off the computer and out of my scrapping room.  And to top it off, my oldest son put in an appearance. 

The winner is Kim who commented on September 3 and said

"Happy Birthday! It was so nice of Webster's Pages to celebrate your birthday with you! ;) I think they should send you a free Sprinkles kit! I love shopping at My Scraps and More. She is always getting the newest stuff, has great specials and a fun place to play!"

 Kim - please let me know where you would like to shop and where to send the gift. There is so much great stuff out there, I'm sure you have a wish list ready.

Thanks for all the birthday wishes and the patience while you waited for me to pick a winner.  I'm hoping for a quiet day today  (just two volleyball games) and tomorrow is the Columbus Day holiday, so I'm planning to get some scrapping time in (finally)!  Hope you all have a great Sunday!

Last Two Days

I've had almost no time and no mojo to scrap this week.  and now it's September 29.  And there are only two days left to

Enter to win the $25 giveaway I am having (go here)

Finish my layouts for the September 30 in 30 challenge - I need two more pages

Enter the September My Scraps and More Challenges 

Finish 5 Senior Night Posters for my son's soccer team.   

And there is the soccer game to go to, the volleyball game to go to, shopping for something to wear to Senior Night and all the weekend chores.  It all feels a little overwhelming which might be why I have no creative energy.  Isn't this supposed to be fun?

The answer - finish the poster on my work table and do a project just for fun.  Maybe it will help with one of the other things on my weekend list, but it will at least help refocus me (I hope).

Don't forget to enter my giveaway - and have a fun weekend!  I'm sure going to try.

 

Failing Scissors

Last Week To Go Here To Win A Scrappy Shopping Spree!

In kindergarten, I failed scissors (and skipping).  That tells me two things - kindergarten has changed a lot over the years (now you would fail reading or math) and fussy cutting isn't going to be my best thing.  But once in a while I still try.

This easter layout relied on some simple "fussy cutting" to create the wide chevron border.  I know it's not perfect, but I still like the look. 

 
And the best thing about this layout is how simple it was.  After I combined the different patterned papers cut into circles with the chevron border, I needed almost no embellishments.  The flowers and chipboard animals had been in my stash forever!  And those Amy Tangerine transparent letters are adorable!

Hope you have a great Monday!

Taking My Own Advice

 Go Here to Win A Shopping Spree

Yes, this is my second post of the day, but I'm finally getting a few minutes to play.  About a week ago I posted a layout, explained what I thought was wrong with it, and had some ideas to fix it.  Today I thought I'd take my own advice - and enter the new version in the Freckled Fawn sketch challenge.

Here's the revised version -

which one do you like better?

Don't Take It Too Seriously!

Go Here for A Chance To Win $25 at Your Favorite Online Scrappy Store

It's been a crazy week and I've had almost no time to play.  (I even spent Saturday in the office.)  But Thursday night, my wonderful husband found a way to give me a couple of hours home alone.  I put this layout together in about an hour by keeping two thoughts in mind. 

• Keep it simple and don't over think in the quest for perfection - I talked about that before.
• Don't take it too seriously - its supposed to be fun!

 The end result was this slightly silly soccer layout.

Now my 18 year old son is not thrilled with the title or some of the less sports themed elements (like the clouds, the hearts, and the little boy running, but I love the whimsy - and its a good reminder to him too.  Soccer, like scrapbooking, is supposed to be fun.

I hope your had a good week and have a great Sunday!  I am going to try and squeeze in some scrappy time today around Sunday dinner, making my sister a birthday cake, Elisabeth's volleyball game, and tons of laundry.  Wish me luck!

A Man For All Seasons

Go HERE for a chance to win a $25 scrappy shopping spree!

I continued to focus on putting together layouts without overthinking.  The one I'm sharing today was inspired by yesterday's "Sunday Sketch" at Studio Calico.  As soon as I saw the sketch, I knew it was a perfect chance to create a two pager - and of course, since I'm working on one of Nicholas's albums, the subject was soccer.

I journaled about the different weather conditions for soccer in Ohio and picked a title to go with that theme - A Man For All Seasons.  The end result was a bright, fun layout with some great soccer pictures.  My favorite is from that wet, foggy spring game with the bare tree in the background.

I love the red shipping tag, the oversized number and the fun paper clip from the Studio Calico September kits.  And, since I was using this layout for my computer challenge entry in the Back To School crop at My Scraps and More, I downloaded his club logo and printed on vellum for a unique, inexpensive embellishment.  (It's a great way to customize your pages that I tend to forget about.)

Today its back to work, so I may not get much scrappy time in.  Maybe tonight?

Hope you have a great Monday!

Take the Field

 Go here for a chance to win a $25 shopping spree!

This morning I learned that one of my layouts is the "Layout of the Day" at My Scraps and More.  I did this soccer layout for the Back to School crop last weekend.  It also falls within my "keeping it simple" philosophy I talked about yesterday.

The design is simple - I cut three different patterned papers (from three different manufacturers)  into large vertical panels and layered them at an angle.  There is a piece from Everyday Eclectic, a piece from Pink Paislee (I think), and a piece from a Creative Memories Fourth of July Addition  (They shouldn't go together, but worked perfectly here.).  A used a strip of green striped washi across the bottom to tie them together.  Most of the embellishments are from a Pebbles package that had been in my stash forever.

I think the banner is what makes the layout.  It was from a package of LYB canvas borders.  But it included blue pennants that just didn't work with my papers.  So I cut the banner into individual pennants and put it back together with the curve and without the blue pennants.  (The blue pennants are safely stored so I can use them another time.)  I used the Everyday Eclectic letter stickers to finish the banner.

Keep it simple and have a great Sunday!

Keeping Things Simple

Go Here For A Chance at A $25 shopping spree!

I've been fightinga cold for most of the week and have spent almost no time in my scrap room.  But when I have wandered in, I've been working really differently than I often do at home.

I have a tendency to start a layout and obsess over it for days.  I leave it out on my work table and swap out embellishments and paper til it looks "perfect."  It's common for a layuot to take me days to complete when I'm working at home.  I'm better when I'm at a crop because I only have some of my supplies with me and I try to stay focused on the page supplies I pulled when I was packing up.  But I can still spend a couple of hours on a single layout. Over-thinking does not lead to better layouts. 

This week my attnetion span was non-existent, so I focused on working on simple layouts that captured the feel of the moment captured in the the picture.  I really liked the layouts I came up with and wanted to share them.  

The first was inspired by the "drawing challenge" at My Scraps and More for their online back to school crop. (I like to participate in online crops because they often create a pressure to produce quickly that forces me to go with my first instincts.)  The layout uses pictures from a visit to my hometown.  I was trying to capture the way I feel about Ashtabula.

I limited journaling to noting the time and place and really tired to let the pictures, papers, and embellishments capture the way I feel when I go back to Ashtabula.

The second layout I want to share is titled "Wings."  It is my submission for the 

I realy wanted to focus on the great photo of the butterfly my husband took.  This layout wasn't as successful, but I can look at it and see how to edit (I think removing the pink charm would make make a huge difference.  My second change would be to remove some of the sequined butterflies.)  And I love the look of the naked chipboard letters (which I would ordinarily think had to be altered in some way.)

So two lessons learned this week - don't overthink and edit when you aren't happy with a final product; taking away may be the answer.

Hopefully I'll have time and energy for some scrapping this weekend.  (I have five challenges left at My Scraps and More.)  And if I do, hopefully I can apply the lessons I learned this week.

Hope you have a great weekend!

Another Sketch, Another Layout

I've really been inspired by sketches lately.  Yesterday I came across this sketch from Let's Capture These Sketches. I loved the simple design that incorporated a number of patterned papers.  Of course I wanted to turn it into a 2 pager. 

I used the sketch as inspiration for my entry into the Lunch challenge.  Your layout had to have food in it.  Mine is about our variation on the Easter egg tradition.  As my kids got older, they lost interest in dying hard boiled eggs.  But Elisabeth was still young and I missed the holiday tradition.  So we quit decorating hard boiled eggs and began decorating egg shaped cut out cookies.  Everybody loves cookies, so a new Easter tradition was born. 

Here's my two page version of the sketch.  You'll notice that I took some liberties with the design and picture sizes.  The paper is a combination of basic grey, echo park, and creative memories.

The title is a play on that cookie in the round photo.  We told Nicholas that he couldn't get a poem on a cookie, and, of course, he had to prove us wrong.  He wrote the classic "Roses Are Red" on that egg.

Hope you're day is going well. 

Done!

Go here to win a $25 shopping spree!

Today I'm sharing a layout I put together using the current sketch at Delightful Inspiration.  I loved the sketch but wanted to adapt it for a two page layout with multiple photos.  I had to print the sketch and leave it on my work table a few days before my own inspiration struck.  Instead of trying to use the layout as is, or move a couple of elements, why not exaggerate the design elements?

I used oversize paper strips and created the ribbon effect down the side of this holiday themed layout.  I used up lots of scraps of paper (some of may favorite Christmas papers ever) and the big Jolee sleigh bell embellishment had been in my stash forever.  This was the perfect opportunity to use it.

Basic Grey paper, jolee's, creative memories, momenta

Here's a closer look at the large, layered paper strips.

Hope you have a great Sunday!

One Sketch, Two Layouts

 

Go Here to Win a $25 shopping spree at the scrappy web retailer of your choice!

When I'm stumped I love to use a sketch to get my mojo back.  And once in a while I find a sketch that I love and want to use over and over.  This sketch from Boys Rule is one of those sketches.


I'm always fascinated by the different looks people get with the same sketch.  And it's even more fun when the different looks come from the same person.  This soccer layout is a fairly literal interpretation of the sketch (and one of my favorite soccer layouts in a long time.)

Studio Calico, Basic Grey, Lily Bee, Echo Park

 
And this holiday layout started from the sketch, but it is way harder to see the connection.

Lots of Bo Bunny for this one

 
Which layout do you like?  Do you have some favorite sketches?  I'd love to see other sketches that can be translated for variety of layouts.

Hope you're having a great weekend.

Back To School

 Go Here to win a $25 Shopping Spree

My Scraps and More is having a fun, school themed crop this weekend.  This layout is my first project and my submission for the math challenge. 

This is my first experiment with negative space.  Cutting a word into a tag shape that I incorporated into my title turned out to be an easy way to experiment.

 This layout was also an easy way to use up scraps.  I created clusters of Christmas shapes cut from scraps for my embellishments.

If you are scrapping this weekend and decide to try the My Scraps and More crop, sign up in the forum and go the the Classmates Needed thread.   Post telling them that "juliee" sent you and we will both be entered into a drawing for a prize.

Have a great Friday!

Soccer -- Again

Go HERE to win a $25 dollar shopping spree at your favorite online store!

I've always worked on one album at a time. But Nicholas is a Senior this year and I only have one album from his high school years done.  So I'm trying something new.  I am going to try and work on his Senior album as I get pictures -- and focus on one of his other high school albums at the same time.  (The Junior album is done, the Sophomore album is about 60% and I just got pictures for the first half of his Freshman album.)  I am either going to be confused and overwhelmed or amazed at my productivity.  We'll see!

Today I am going to share the first 2 layouts from his Senior album. They are from a summer soccer weekend he participated in with his high school team.  I used a simple grid pattern, varying picture size on both layouts, and using common papers to link the layouts together.  I simply changed the orientation of the grid from the first layout to the second to add visual interest.

The paper was a mix of scraps and a Studio Calico 6x6 pad that was a gift with purchase.  In addition to the thickers used for the titles, there are some other elements linking the layouts together.

Fun banners from the Basic Grey Clippings collection:

Washi tape and washi like stickers:

These soccer themed tabs left on an old sticker sheet:

The grid pattern created nice clean layouts that still have the bright, fun feel of summer.  Its a great technique to try when you want to use up lots of scraps.  I am already thinking of other layouts where I can use the same technique.

I hope you try it and have a great Tuesday!

More Scrappy Shopping Tips From My Husband

Go Here To Win A Scrappy Shopping Spree At Your Favorite Site

OK - I have to warn you.  This post got really long.  If you want to skip the shopping tips, go down about halfway and check out the layout.

 

You may remember that my husband spent an afternoon shopping withme last month and shared lots of great tips that helped me get the supplies I wanted for way less money - always a good thing.  Well on Thursday evening we went to buy wood for a new scrapping work station (my birthday present) and he struck again.  I want to share those tips with you -- and the layout I made with some of my new supplies.

The Woodworking Store 

One of my favorite trends is wood veneer.  I love the way it looks, the way it can be used "as is" or with mists, and all the fun pieces.  But it gets expensive and everytime I get a new package, I hear "You paid how much for that?"  Kind of takes the fun out of it.  

But here's what I found at the woodworking store:

The sheet of dots are self adhesive wood dots (they call them nail head covers) and present a wealth of possibilities.  The long piece of small squares is flexible trim.  The squares can be peeled off individually for a fun embellishment or the trim can be cut easily to create a strip of wood squares for use in a border. 

The big sheets of wood veneer came in a variety pack - I got oak, cherry, maple and walnut.  I'm hoping I can cut simple shapes with my cricut and deep blade housing, but haven't gotten that to work yet.  But check out this layout using a large piece of wood veneer.

The Layout
This layout is based on sketches from My Scraps and More and Purple Pumpkin.

 

It is also my first submission for a CSI challenge. Case File No. 35 had a color scheme of teal, yellow, green, white and sand.  I used hearts (see the button from Purple Pumpkin; butterflies are from purple pumpkin also), wood and paint (ok - spray ink).  I journaled about my relationship with my son this summer and you'll find some words and phrases about that relationship scattered through the layout.

 Check out the wide strip of wood veneer at the bottom of the layout - I love the way it anchors the layout!

The journaling is in the glassine bag so that you can see the handwriting but the message is at least somewhat private.

  

And the title block  is the first time I've ever achieved a look I like when trying to splatter spray ink.

I'm also entering this layout  at Bird Is The Word where the current word is spirit.

And best of all, putting this layout was really cathartic for me as I continue loving and worrying about my son.

Sorry this got so long.  Hope you have a great Sunday!